Container handling structure

ABSTRACT

A multilevel structure having elevators extending between levels and each including conveyor means for moving containers or the like on and off of the elevators. One or more annular storage platforms at each level are mounted for controlled rotation or angular indexing and each platform includes idlers or the like for ready movement of containers thereon.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 553,600 filed Feb. 27, 1975and now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,687 which is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 287,750 filedSept. 11, 1972 and now abandoned, that in turn was a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 52,381 filed July 6, 1970 and now abandoned, thatin turn was a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 720,952 filedApr. 12, 1968 and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,909, that in turn was acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 404,622 filed Oct. 19, 1964and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,151 and a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 646,671 filed June 16, 1967 and now U.S. Pat. No.3,382,990.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

In the use of cargo containers, for example, it is often necessary toprovide temporary storage for use between rail or truck transportationand ship transportation. Such storage is preferably located on a dock orwharf in order to most readily and rapidly load or unload a ship.However, the capacity of many ships is far in excess of the storagecapability of the dock or the like. It is also convenient, if notnecessary, to load a ship in particular order either to facilitateunloading or for other reasons. This then normally requires storage inan inverse order or the rail or truck delivery of containers inparticular order.

Preferably, temporary container storage should provide high densitystorage with ready access to each container. This then would alleviatethe space problem on or near docks and also would facilitate loading andunloading in predetermined order.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The invention provides a structure or building having a plurality offloors with elevators extending between floors. These floors arevertically spaced and may extend above and/or below ground level. Theelevators each incorporate a conveyor on the surface thereof so that anitem such as a cargo container may be drawn onto the elevator anddischarged therefrom by the elevator itself. It is noted at this pointthat the present invention is herein described with respect to thestorage of cargo containers of the type generally employed in thetransportation industry; however, the invention is equally applicable tothe storage of other items such as automobiles, for example.

The storage levels of the structure hereof each include at least oneannular rotary storage platform having storage spaces circumferentiallythereabout. Each storage space has the surface thereof formed of rollersor the like so that a container may be readily moved thereon forplacement in and removal from the space. The storage spaces aredimensioned to each receive a single container and are inclineddownwardly from the elevators.

Removal of containers from storage spaces of the structure isaccomplished by controllably movable means cooperating with storagespaces aligned with elevators to push containers from storage spacesinto engagement with powered conveyors that complete removal ofcontainers from the spaces. Certain alternatives or variations of thepresent invention are provided, particularly in connection with removalof containers from storage spaces of the structure. Thus movable bumpersmay be aligned with elevators to push containers from storage spaces,pivotally mounted storage floors may be actuated by drive means alignedwith elevators or movable chains or the like with container lugs thereonmay be employed.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The present invention is illustrated as to particular preferredembodiments in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a first embodiment of theinvention with the exterior wall removed;

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view of the container handling structuretaken in the plane 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of one elevator and aligned storagespace;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an alternative storage spacestructure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration in plan view of a further alternativestorage space structure;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken in the plane 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of an embodiment of the container storagestructure of this invention incorporating a pair of rotary platforms ateach level;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken in the plane 8--8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an elevational view of an embodiment of the present inventionincorporating both interior and exterior elevators; and

FIG. 10 is a sectional plan view of the embodiment of the presentinvention illustrated in FIG. 9 and taken in the plane 10--10 of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings, there will be seen tobe illustrated a structure and system for the storage and handling ofitems such as cargo containers. Referring now to this particularapplication of the present invention, it is to be noted that containersof uniform size are widely employed for the purpose of transportingcargo both by land and sea. With regard to the transfer of such cargoesfrom land transportation to ships, it is common to require some type oftemporary storage inasmuch as one or possibly two containers mightcomprise the entire load of a vehicle such as a truck 12 and yet largenumbers of such containers are to be loaded upon an individual ship. Thepresent invention provides a building 13 having a central circular coreincorporating a plurality of vertically movable elevators 14 asillustrated, for example, in FIG. 2. Any desired number of elevators maybe provided in the array thereof as discussed in more detail below.

The building structure 13 comprises a plurality of vertically spacedstorage levels above the first level and, referring now to FIG. 2, itwill be seen that there is provided at each storage level at least onerotary mounted annular storage platform 16. This platform 16 is disposedimmediately outward of the central elevator core and is mounted forrotation or rotary indexing. The platform is divided into a substantialnumber of storage spaces 17 contiguously disposed circumferentiallyabout the platform and each extending radially thereacross. Indexingmeans 18 are provided for controllably turning the platform 16 to locatedesired storage spaces 17 in radial alignment with elevators 14. Theplatform may be mounted for rotation by a variety of means such asrollers, casters, ball bearings, V-grooved wheels or the like and theindexing or drive means 18 may, of course, take a variety of formscapable of remote control. Such indexing means 18 are only schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 1.

Considering now operation of the invention and further portions thereof,it is first noted that the lower level of the structure 13 may beprovided as a loading level wherein a truck or the like 12 may driveinto or back into the structure for removal of containers therefrom ontoan elevator 14. As shown in FIG. 1, there may be provided idlers 26formed, for example, of rollers upon which a container may be placed forready movement from the truck to the elevator. These loading idlers maybe disposed at a slight incline so as to facilitate movement of thecontainer thereon into the elevator. The floor of the elevator, or atleast the majority of such floor, is formed as an endless belt conveyor27 controllably movable in either direction by drive means 28,schematically shown in FIG. 3. Thus, as a container is moved along theidler 26 to extend into the elevator, the conveyor is operated to movethe surface thereof inwardly of the elevator and consequently to drawthe container into the elevator whereat the conveyor is stopped with thecontainer properly located for elevator movement. It will, of course beappreciated that there may be provided on the elevator conveyor 27projections such as teeth or the like that would engage a partiallyribbed surface or aligned depressions on the under side of the containerto provide a more positive engagement between conveyor and containers,if necessary. Such structures are known in the art and thus are notfurther described herein.

Each elevator is dimensioned to readily hold a single container andafter the container is located therein at the first level of thebuilding structure 13, the elevator is then raised to an appropriatestorage level of the structure. The storage platform 16 is thencircumferentially indexed or rotated to place an empty storage space 17radially outward of the elevator with the container thereon. Theelevator conveyor is then operated to move the upper surface thereofoutwardly of the structure and thus to move the container out of theelevator. The annular storage platforms 16 slope radially outward asindicated in FIG. 1 and each of the storage spaces 17 is provided withidlers which may, for example, be in the form of spaced metal rollersmounted for free rotation so that the container moves freely thereoveras urged by the elevator conveyor. Alternatively, the spaces 17 may beprovided with Round Way bearings or other equivalent of idler rollers.As shown in FIG. 3, a stop is provided at the outer end of each storagespace as, for example, in the form of a curb or the like 29 and, asstated, the storage spaces each slant slightly outwardly of the buildingso that the container rolls easily into the space and is retained instored position in the space once it is placed therein. There are alsoprovided lateral guides or side walls 30 for each space to confine acontainer therein. As noted above, any desired number of elevators maybe provided in the building structure and provision is made on theentrance or bottom level for access to the elevators by trucks, trainsor the like carrying containers. If desired, a truck, for example, maybe backed to an elevator rather than employing the idlers 26 outside ofthe elevators. Alternatively, if wheeled containers or the like such as,for example, automobiles are to be stored in the structure, it will benecessary that the front wheels of same be conveyed on the elevator sothat the elevator may then draw the vehicle thereon for raising it to astorage level. In this instance a depression may be provided in eachspace 17 to arrest outward vehicle movement rather than employing thecurb for such purpose.

It will be appreciated that with the above described structure it isquite simple to load each of the storage spaces of each rotary storageplatform of the building structure. It is only necessary tocircumferentially index a storage platform to present successive emptystorage spaces to the exit of elevators and then to move containers fromthe elevators by the conveyors thereon into the storage spaces. Withregard to unloading of the building structure, it is first noted thatmeans are provided for urging containers from storage spaces intoelevators. Such means are shown in FIG. 3 to be provided in the form ofmovable bumpers 31 mounted radially outward of the rotary platform 16and aligned with separate elevators, as shown in FIG. 3. Drive means 32are provided for each of the movable bumpers for forcing the bumperinwardly of the building structure to thus engage a container in astorage space and push the container over the rollers of the spacepartially into an elevator. The container then rests in part upon theconveyor with the align elevator so that actuation of the conveyor drawsthe container into the elevator. Removal of the container from thebuilding 13 is accomplished at one or more exit points and in FIGS. 1and 2 there are shown exits at the first level and at the top level. Anupper uncovered loading level 32 may be provided about the elevator coreatop the building. If the building is very high, a building crane 33 maybe mounted on top of same to lift containers from the loading level 31for loading containers onto a ship 34, for example. The first level exitis shown to include a lower loading level 36 extending radially from thebuilding and having idlers or the like extending thereacross wherebycontainers may be rolled from the building for access by a crane such asa ship's crane 37.

In the unloading of containers from storage spaces each rotary platformmay be indexed to provide any desired storage space in alignment with anelevator so that the container in such space may then readily be movedto an unloading level of the building to be picked up by a crane andplaced on the ship. Thus the ship may be loaded with containers indesired order thereof no matter how these containers may be disposedwithin the storage structure. This will be seen to be highlyadvantageous. It is furthermore possible during loading of a storagestructure to dispose individual containers at any desired positiontherein and this provides an even further dimension of control overloading and unloading operations.

It will of course be appreciated that the present invention is equallyapplicable to the unloading of containers from ships and the storage ofsame in the building structure 13 for subsequent reloading of otherships or loading of trucks or trains to remove the containers from thestorage building. The degree of control afforded by the buildingstructure and the container handling system therein clearly provides asubstantial advantage over conventional stacking of containers orparking of vehicles or the like wherein problems of ordered loading andunloading become significant.

Movement of containers from storage spaces on the annular rotaryplatforms hereof into selected elevators may be accomplished in avariety of ways. There has been described above a movable bumperarrangement in connection with the illustration of FIG. 3; however, forcertain configurations of the present invention, it may be preferable toemploy alternative unloading means for removing containers in storagespaces. In FIG. 4 there is illustrated an alternative structure forcontainer unloading means from storage spaces wherein each storage spacehas the floor thereof comprised as a pivotally mounted floor element 41.The floor 41 is mounted to pivot about the end thereof adjacent theelevator core and is pivoted upon a frame 42 of a rotary mounted storageplatform 16. This storage space floor 41 may be comprised as laterallymounted rollers or idlers between guide members and normally extendsslightly downwardly from the pivot axis thereof radially outward of theplatform and such inclination is exaggerated in FIG. 4 to emphasize thedirection of inclination. A container moved from the elevator 14 on tothe floor 41 by the elevator conveyor belt will smoothly roll into thestorage space with the floor being maintained in inclined position byappropriate structural members 43 of the rotary platform. Removal of thecontainer from the storage space is herein accomplished with the spacealigned with an elevator and by the provision of means for pivoting thefloor 41. Such means may comprise a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 44mounted on the building structure itself beneath the rotary platform inalignment with the elevator. Actuation of this hydraulic cylinder forcesthe piston rod thereof upwardly to engage the under side of the floor 41and pivot the floor into the position illustrated in dashed lines inFIG. 4 so that the floor is then inclined radially inward in thestructure. In this position a container mounted on the rollers of thefloor will roll on to the conveyor 27 so that operation of the latterwill draw the container entirely within the elevator. Return of thepiston of the hydraulic cylinder 44 to normal position allows the floor41 to pivot back into normal position for receiving another container.It will be appreciated that only one lifting mechanism is required foreach elevator inasmuch as the hydraulic cylinder, for example, is notmounted on the rotary platform, although, of course, it would bepossible to so construct the apparatus. The provision of a tilting orpivotally mounted storage space floor minimizes the radial extent of thebuilding structure required in order to move containers from storagespaces into elevators.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 there is illustrated a further storage platform floorstructure wherein multi-link chains such as timing chains or the likeare employed as the floor of the storage space. Referring now to FIGS. 5and 6, there will be seen to be provided two chains 51 and 52 extendingabout rollers 53 and 54 that are journaled for rotation in side members56 and 57 of a rotary storage platform 16. The chains 51 and 52 areprevented from lateral movement on the rollers as by appropriateengagement therewith and may, in fact, be connected to the rollers as byprovision of cogs in the rollers which are mounted for free rotation.The upper surface of the floor of the storage space is aligned with theupper surface of the conveyor belt 27 in the elevators and with thestorage space floor being inclined downwardly radially outward of theelevators, it will be seen that movement of a container by the conveyorbelts in the elevator on to the storage space floor will cause thecontainer then to move with the chains on the freely rotating rollers 53and 54 fully into the storage space. Provision is herein made forterminating this movement when the container is entirely outside of theelevator and this may, for example, comprise a stop or crosspiece 58secured as by welding across the chains 51 and 52 in position to alignwith the top of the outer roller 54 when the container is fully withinthe storage space. Movement of the chains at this orientation of thestop 58 may be accomplished in a variety of ways and, as illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 6, a drive plate 59 is secured across the chains beneath therollers in position to engage a piston arm 61 of the hydraulic piston atthis point. This hydraulic piston 62 is shown to be mounted upon thebuilding structure so as to terminate movement of the chains when thecontainer is fully within the storage space. The container may then bereadily moved from the storage space into engagement with the elevatorconveyor belt by operating the hydraulic cylinder 62 to extend thepiston arm 61 therefrom and consequently to rotate the chains in acounterclockwise direction, as shown in FIG. 6, so that the crosspieceor stop 58 pushes against the container and moves it to the left in FIG.6.

The storage space embodiments of the present invention, as illustratedin FIGS. 4 and 6, are particularly useful in building structure inaccordance with the present invention wherein radial extent of thestructure is limited. Particularly in those embodiments of the presentinvention wherein more than one concentric rotary platform is providedat each level, it is advantageous, if not necessary, to limit thephysical length of any type of pusher or bumper that may be employed tourge containers into elevators. It is also possible to employalternative mechanical means for urging the container or the like from astorage space of a rotary platform hereof such as, for example, apivotal parallelogram, a telescopic piston or the like, or other typesof linkages wherein forces may be applied, for example, vertically fromabove or below the rotary platform.

The present invention furthermore provides for building structures oflarger size than that of the above described embodiment. In order toexpand the storage capabilities of the structure in accordance with thepresent invention there may be provided more than one rotary storageplatform per level. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, there will be seen to beshown a storage structure 71 incorporating two rotary storage platforms72 and 73 per level. These platforms are concentrically disposed about acentral core of the elevators 14; however, in this embodiment of theinvention the center of the elevator core is provided with a turntable74 at each level. The turntable 74 is provided with a conveyor 76thereon, again as shown in FIG. 8. The elevators are open at the storagelevels both radially outward and inwardly thereof and again eachelevator incorporates a conveyor, as described above in connection withthe embodiment of FIG. 1.

Movement of containers or the like into and out of the storage structure71 of FIGS. 7 and 8 may be accomplished by loading of the elevators atthe ground or bottom level in any desired manner such as, for example,as described above and then movement of the container upwardly by theelevator to a desired storage level such as the one illustrated in FIG.8. At this point the container is moved radially outwardly of theelevator for disposition in a selected storage space of the innerstorage platform 72. The individual storage spaces of this platform areformed in the same manner as described above in connection with FIG. 2and the platform may be rotated to dispose any desired storage space infront of any desired elevator. In order to place a container in astorage space of the outer rotary storage platform 73 such container ismoved from the elevator radially inward onto the turntable 74 but firstthe turntable is rotated to align conveyor 76 thereof with the elevatorfrom which the container is to be received. Following movement of thecontainer to the turntable onto the conveyor thereof, the turntable isrotated to align the conveyor 44 with a driveway 77 extending radiallyoutward through the elevator core, as indicated in FIG. 8. This drivewayalso incorporates a conveyor 78 of the same type described above andupon actuation of the conveyor of the turntable the container is thentransferred onto the conveyor of this driveway. The inner rotaryplatform 72 is also provided with a driveway 79 thereacross and suchdriveway is likewise provided with a conveyor 81 so that the containermay be moved from the first driveway 77 onto the second driveway 79 andthence by means of the conveyor 81 in the latter urged radially outwardinto any desired storage space of the rotary platform 73 by rotation ofthe outer platform to align such space with the driveway. In this mannerthen each of the storage spaces of both rotary storage platforms may bereadily loaded from the elevators. As previously noted, each of thestorage spaces in both rotary storage platforms is provided with idlersas described above, and thus the containers readily roll into thestorage spaces.

Further with regard to the embodiment of the present inventionillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, it is noted that, in common with theembodiment of FIG. 1, the rotary storage platforms are inclineddownwardly, radially outward of the elevator core. This facilitatesmovement of storage containers or the like into the storage spaces ofthese rotary platforms and it furthermore prevents inadvertent movementof the containers when stored. This embodiment of the present inventionalso incorporates container stops or the like to prevent the containersfrom moving beyond the desired location thereof within the storage spaceupon loading of such space. There is also provided unloading means 82about the periphery of the inner platform 72 in alignment with theelevators 14 for selectively urging containers from predeterminedstorage spaces into elevators to unload the inner rotary platform. Asingle unloading means is illustrated to be disposed peripherallyoutward of the outer rotary platform 73 in alignment with the driveway77 of the elevator core. If more than one elevator core driveway isprovided, there is then employed a separate unloading means 83 inalignment with each of such driveways. It will be appreciated that theseunloading means 82 and 83 are provided for the purpose of urgingcontainers from storage spaces toward elevators and may be comprised asdescribed above in connection with the descriptions of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6and alternatives thereto. In order to remove a container from a storagespace in the inner platform 72, the platform is rotated to align thestorage space of the container with the particular elevator desired tobe employed for removal of the container. The unloading means 82 is thenactuated to push the container partially onto the elevator whereupon theconveyor of the elevator operates to draw the container the rest of theway into the elevator. The elevator is then moved downwardly to thefirst level. At the first level the container may be removed from theelevator by actuation of the elevator conveyor to push the container outonto an extended idler strip 36 such as described above. With thisextended idler strip being slightly inclined outwardly of the buildingonto a dock the container will roll outside of the building to the edgeof the dock whereat the container may be readily lifted by the freightbooms 37 of a cargo ship 34. The containers are then swung aboard theship and lowered through the hatch in conventional manner to be storedin the hold of the ship. It will be appreciated that for loading andunloading of one ship alongside one side of the dock upon which thestructure is built it is necessary to employ only those elevators onthat side of the building to remove containers from the building.However, assuming that there are two sides to the dock and a ship may beloaded or unloaded from the other dock side then the elevators on theopposite side of the building would be employed to move containers forthis purpose.

With regard to unloading of containers from an outer rotary storageplatform 73 of any level of the structure 71, it is only necessary tocircumferentially index or rotate the outer platform 73 to align anydesired stall with the driveway 77. The inner platform is rotated orindexed to align the driveway 79 thereof with the driveway 77 of thecentral core. The outer unloading means 83, located radially outward ofthe outer platform 73 in alignment with the driveways, is employed topush the container at least partially onto the driveway 79 whereat it isengaged by the conveyor 81 of the driveway to be moved inwardly onto theinner driveway 77. The central turntable 74 is rotated to align theconveyor 76 thereof with the inner driveway 77 so that the container maybe further moved onto the turntable. The turntable is then rotated toalign the conveyor thereof with a desired elevator and the containermoved by the conveyors of the turntable and elevator into the elevatorfor lowering to the ground floor. It will, of course, be appreciatedthat it is also possible to reverse procedures so that a ship isunloaded of containers which are then stored in the structure 71. Inthis instance the extended idlers 36 would be inclined in the oppositedirection and provision is preferably made for controllably changing theinclination of these extended idlers for this purpose. To this end, ofcourse, there is a variety of different adjusting or control meanspossible and it may, for example, be convenient to provide the idlersupon extended steel beams or the like which may have adjusting meanssuch as rotary jacks provided for raising and lowering opposite endsthereof to achieve the desired inclination of the idlers so that acontainer placed thereon may be readily rolled along the length of theidlers to the opposite end thereof.

It is realized that the present invention is adapted to be constructedupon other structures which may have limited dimensions. Thus thestructure of FIG. 1, for example, is highly desirable under thosecircumstances where a dock of limited width is available. However, whenmore physical space is available on a dock, wharf or the like, a doublerotary platform storage system such as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, maybe employed. In addition, where sufficient space is provided, there mayalso be employed, in accordance with the present invention, exteriorelevators such as indicated in the embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 10. Thisembodiment may have the general configuration of the structure of FIG. 7with the addition of external elevators 91. These outer elevators openinwardly to an outer rotary storage platform 92 at each level andpreferably open radially outward of the building at the bottom or docklevel. With the provision of these additional exterior elevators then,it is not necessary to incorporate a central turntable in the middle ofthe building, for the elevators 14 of the central core open onlyradially outward of the building to the inner radial storage platform72.

The storage spaces of the inner rotary platform 72 are slanteddownwardly toward the exterior of the building away from the innerelevator core, as illustrated in FIG. 9. Conversely the outer rotaryplatform 92 has the storage spaces thereof slanted downwardly away fromthe outer elevators, i.e., toward the central core of the building. Itwill be seen that the foregoing is in conformity with the otherembodiments of the present invention wherein storage spaces are slantedaway from elevators with which they cooperate. No attempt is made inFIGS. 9 and 10 hereof to illustrate the details of platform mounting,drive or storage space unloading means, for the same structuresdescribed above in connection with prior embodiments of the presentinvention are equally applicable hereto. In this instance the innerelevators are employed only to load and unload the inner rotary storageplatform 72 and the outer elevators 91 employed only to load and unloadthe outer rotary storage platform 92. If it is desired to employ each ofthe inner elevators for both loading and unloading of the innerplatform, then it is necessary to provide unloading means 82 inalignment with each inner elevator and disposed between the inner andouter rotary platforms, as indicated. On the other hand, if some of theinner elevators are to be employed only for loading the building andothers for unloading it, it is only necessary to provide the unloadingmeans in alignment with the unloading elevators. With regard to theexterior elevators 91, the same general situation exists and there areprovided unloading means 93 in alignment with those exterior elevatorsto be employed for removing containers from the building. Such unloadingmeans are movable outward to push conveyors radially outward fromstorage spaces on the outer platform at least partially into the outerelevators whereat conveyors on the floor thereof draw the containersinto the elevators. One or more of the unloading means 93 may be doubleacting to move containers inwardly from the inner platform and outwardlyfrom the outer platform if the inner and outer elevators are aligned. Atthe bottom level of the structure there may be provided exit means suchas idlers extending radially outward from the outer elevators and againthese may be inclined downwardly away from the building for unloading ofcontainers from the storage building or inclined inwardly toward thebuilding for the loading of containers into the storage building.

In the above-described embodiments of the present invention it is to beappreciated that any desired number of elevators in the inner core ofthe structure may be provided. The choice of the number of elevators isdependent upon a number of factors including the height of the building,the necessary limitations upon time and movement of containers into andout of the building, and also the cost thereof. Similarly, any desirednumber of exterior elevators may be provided, again depending in partupon physical space available on the docks or the like, as well as thosecriteria identified above. The illustrations of the present invention inthe drawings hereof show a large number of inner core elevators;however, practical embodiments of the invention may well incorporate buta few inner elevators. Furthermore, it is not necessary for theseelevators of the inner core to necessarily be space equidistant apartabout the core. For certain applications the requirements thereof may bebest satisfied by banks of inner core elevators placed in particularpositions for loading or unloading depending upon the physical set-up ofthe dock or the like. Similarly, it is noted that combinations ofparticular structures as illustrated in the various embodimentsdescribed above are, of course, possible in accordance with the presentinvention. Thus, for example, a tall building need not employ two rotarystorage platforms per level. Also it may, for example, be desirable toprovide unloading means such as movable bumpers for urging storedcontainers into different elevators at separate levels. Thus aparticular elevator might be adapted to unload certain levels of thebuilding and not others, again depending upon the particular applicationof the invention and the circumstances surrounding same.

With regard to variations in the present invention it is noted, forexample, that the storage platforms are preferably mounted for rotationin either direction so as to be moved a minimum distance to align anystorage space with any elevator. Also, if wheeled containers are to bestored, the idlers may not be required except in the case of automobilestorage where the brakes are to be set. The invention is particularlyadapted to safeguarding and even concealment of containers or the likeduring storage, as the invention is preferably formed with solid outerwalls and may, in fact, be constructed underground if desired. Thusvarious materials such as munitions, perishable or easily damaged goods,or the like, may be advantageously stored, and the term "container" asemployed herein is intended to include such items.

It is not intended herein to limit the present invention to a singleparticular structure having, for example, a precise pre-stated number ofelevators, storage levels, container unloading means or the like, forthe invention provides an improved container storage structure andsystem having a high degree of flexibility for utilization under avariety of circumstances and in different physical situations. Thus theinvention is not to be limited to the precise details of illustration ordescription.

What is claimed is:
 1. A container storage system comprisinga buildingstructure defining a plurality of vertically spaced storage levels atleast one annular rotary-mounted storage platform at each level witheach platform having a plurality of circumferentially spaced storagespaces extending radially across the platform and each space havingrollers rotatably mounted laterally thereacross for facilitating themovement of a container into and out of the space, said storage spaceseach having a radially inclined floor, a plurality of elevatorsextending vertically through said structure in a central core within theannular platforms and said elevators opening outwardly directly onto astorage platform at each of said storage levels at the upper end of thestorage spaces of the platform adjacent said central core, each of saidelevators having controllably operable conveyor means on the floorthereof for horizontal movement of a container into and out of anelevator, controllably operable unloading means at each of said levelshaving controllable drive means mounted on said structure in alignmentwith at least one elevator at each storage level and an element movablethereby for engaging a container disposed in a storage space alignedwith an elevator and urging the container toward and at least partiallyinto the elevator onto the conveyor thereof whereby the container may bedrawn into said elevator, and controllable drive means for rotatablyindexing said storage platforms to align any desired storage space witha selected elevator whereby all storage spaces may be loaded andunloaded in any desired order.
 2. The container storage system of Claim1 further defined by the annular storage platform immediately about saidcentral core on at least one of said storage levels having a pivotallymounted floor in each of said storage spaces with such floor beingpivoted adjacent the inner circumference of the platform to swing theouter end of the floor substantially vertically and said unloading meansincluding an element adapted to engage the floor radially outward fromthe pivot axis with said drive means vertically displacing the elementto tilt the floor toward the elevator whereby a container in the spacerolls at least in part into the elevator.
 3. The container storagesystem of Claim 2 further defined by the rollers of each storage spacehaving at least one endless chain belt thereabout and engaged therewithfor movement with roller rotation and said unloading means comprising apiston drive means adapted to engage a projection on said belt to rotatethe upper portion of the belt toward the inner circumference of theplatform.
 4. The system of Claim 3 further defined by a mechanical stopsecured to said belt in extension upwardly from the upper portionthereof and located with respect to said belt projection for dispositionat the radially outer end of the storage space when the beltprotuberance engages said piston drive means in retracted condition ofthe latter.